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“If the game plan is to keep pressure, I can handle it,” Mayweather, 36, said during the final news conference for what could end up being the richest fight of all time.

“If the game plan is to out-box me, nobody can out-box me. You have to be able to out-match me mentally, and I’m the strongest mental fighter in the sport of boxing. I’ve been here before so I know what it takes.

“He’s 42-0, but he hasn’t faced 42 Floyd Mayweathers because he’d be 0-42. I’m at the pinnacle. I’m the face of boxing,” said the American, who prides himself on lightning hand speed and agile movement around the ring.

Widely regarded as one of the best defensive fighters of all time and long renowned for his trash-talking, Mayweather has compiled a flawless professional record of 44-0 with 26 knockouts.

“Career-wise, I’m OK, no matter what the outcome is,” he said. “I never worry about the outcome. When I go into any fight, I’m not focused on the money or anything.

“I’m focused on going out there, performing well, and giving the fans what they want to see – excitement. That’s what it’s all about; it’s about the fans winning.

“September 14 is just another stepping stone, another opponent to me. But he knows he’s facing Floyd Mayweather; I’m facing just another opponent.”

Mayweather, who is nicknamed “Money” for his flamboyant and often extravagant lifestyle, is guaranteed a record $41.5 million from Saturday’s fight while the 23-year-old Alvarez will earn $12.5 million, by far the biggest payday of his career.

RECORD LIVE GATE

Billed as “The One,” the heavily marketed bout has already produced a record live gate of $19.91 million and could approach record revenue from its pay-per-view buys.

“I can turn any fighter into a star,” said Mayweather, who dominated fellow American Robert Guerrero with sublime defense and a steady parade of right hands in his most recent bout, in May, to retain his WBC welterweight championship.

“I don’t worry about running out of opponents. I’ve got guys under my banner I can turn into stars and fight.

“It’s about being entertaining. I feel like if I didn’t step up to the plate and speak my mind or be flashy and flamboyant then I probably wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in right now. I think it’s a gift.”

For his part, Alvarez is excited about the prospect of becoming the first professional boxer to beat Mayweather, especially given that the fight scheduled for 12 rounds will be contested on Mexican Independence weekend.

“I don’t care about his record,” said the Guadalajara-born boxer, (42-0-1, 30 KOs). “I’m not coming to make a good fight, I’m coming to win.

“When you fight Floyd you have to be ready for every aspect of a fight. You have to be able to adjust mentally as well as physically. I have to be very, very smart and ready to change my plan at any time.

“I’ve studied him. I know his style and I know what he’s going to do. I’m confident I will win because I know everything about him. I’ve prepared for everything.”

Asked whether he felt the weight of pressure and expectation from his fans in Mexico where he enjoys rock-star status, Alvarez replied: “There’s no pressure whatsoever. It’s motivating to have all of Mexico rooting for me.

“You’ll see how I do it. You’ll see how I beat him. I’m calm and I’m just ready to fight. I’m ready for the best Floyd possible.”

The most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Ainslie will sail as the tactician aboard the 72-foot catamaran in place of American John Kostecki.

Earlier this week a tactical blunder by Kostecki cost Oracle a lead, allowed the Kiwis to cruise into a commanding fourth victory, and prompted the American team to call for an unusual time-out.

“It’s clear we need to improve performance, and with that comes changes,” Kostecki, 49, said. “I’ll fill whatever role is best to help us win.”

Government-backed Team New Zealand needs to win five more races to take the 162-year-old trophy back to its sailing-crazed island nation, while software mogul Larry Ellison’s Oracle team still needs to win 10 races to hold onto the Cup. Oracle started the regatta two points behind because of an unprecedented jury-imposed punishment for illegally modifying the team’s smaller, prototype boats sailed in warm-up races.

“I’m happy to step up and do what’s best for the team,” Ainslie said in a prepared statement. The 36-year-old sailor has been at the helm of Oracle’s second yacht during training matches.

Though Oracle flies the American flag, substituting Ainslie for Kostecki leaves only one U.S. sailor on the team, trimmer Rome Kirby. All but two of the Kiwi sailors hail from New Zealand.

Oracle’s devastating loss on Tuesday prompted the team to play its so-called postponement card and cancel a second race of the day so it could regroup. The only crew change was the promotion of Ainslie – a record five-time Olympic medallist knighted by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace in March.

A supreme tactician, Ainslie is known for bouncing back from bad races. His work as a sparring partner for Team New Zealand’s skipper Dean Barker in Valencia, Spain, in 2007 could help him in the races for the America’s Cup trophy. Ainslie has set winning the “Auld Mug,” as the Cup is called, as his primary goal.

“I think this Cup is still winnable for Oracle,” he said in an interview earlier this week with British broadcaster Sky Sports. “We’re obviously in a very difficult situation.

“If we can change the momentum of this series, then anything’s possible.”

Ainslie made his mark in his 1996 Olympic debut earning a silver in the Laser dinghy class. That made him, at 19, the Britain’s youngest Olympic sailing medallist.

Four years later, in Sydney, he won gold, and did so again in Athens in 2004. He took his fourth gold and fifth Olympic medal in London last year.

Oracle was winning the race against powerhouse New Zealand on Tuesday when it tried to do something that has never before been done — to lift its foils out of the water while tacking. The team bungled the manoeuvre, almost stopped dead and gave up an eight-second lead.

The international jury that punished Oracle in the biggest cheating scandal in Cup history also expelled Kostecki’s brother-in-law, first-choice Oracle wing trimmer Dirk de Ridder for making illegal boat alterations.

Kostecki grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay and was hired as Oracle’s tactician at least in part for his insider knowledge.

Ellison won the world’s oldest sporting trophy in Valencia in 2010 and with it the right to choose his home San Francisco Bay waters as the venue and the fragile and hard-to-handle twin-hulled yachts with 13-story rigid wing sails as the vessels.

Sailors have criticized the Oracle chief executive’s decisions, particularly after British Olympic gold medallist Andrew “Bart” Simpson was killed when the AC72 of Sweden’s Artemis Racing capsized during a May practice exercise.

Ainslie grew up sailing with and against Simpson in British youth squads. Losing Simpson was crushing for Ainslie. He delivered a tribute at his friend’s funeral.

That’s the unorthodox proverb for Canterbury players heading into a finals campaign looking to go one better than last year’s grand final berth.

But unlike their minor premiership-winning ways of 2012, it’s do or die for this year’s Bulldogs.

Forced to settle for sixth spot on the ladder, they face Newcastle in an eliminator at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

“Everyone’s going to be desperate,” prop James Graham said on Thursday.

“And Newcastle will be as well so it will probably bring out the best in them.”

Fellow forward Josh Jackson agreed: “We’re definitely playing like it’s our last game, because it potentially could be.

“But we’re more excited than nervous.”

The squad returns to near full-strength after giant forward Sam Kasiano and elusive fullback Ben Barba made their returns from long injury layoffs last week.

“They’ll be good there for us,” Jackson said.

“Benny’s one of those blokes who can tear a game open.”

Canterbury lost both their clashes with Newcastle this season, having copped a 44-8 thumping in May along with an 18-12 defeat in July.

On and off-field tribulations have ensured a less-than-smooth passage to the finals.

Injuries and suspensions ravaged them in the early weeks, while the dramas surrounding 2012 Dally M Player of the Year Ben Barba created distracting headlines.

A mid-season streak of seven wins from eight games propelled them up the ladder, though they lost three of their last five including a shock loss to Brisbane.

Coach Des Hasler was scathing over his squad’s sloppy display against the Broncos during which they completed only 65 per cent of sets, something Graham conceded was an issue.

“(It’s) probably not just this week, probably for a majority of the year to be honest,” Graham said.

“We know we need to improve our ball control and we’re going to have to complete a lot better than what we did (against Brisbane).”

But Graham was determined none of it has dampened belief they can still take home the premiership against the odds.

“On the league table it says that we’re not (the best performed) but I think the belief in this team, without getting too far ahead of ourselves going past this Sunday, we believe there’s no reason why we can’t go all the way.”

Rising Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios says he’s pumped and ready for a first taste of Davis Cup after his surprise selection for the World Group playoff against Poland.

The 18-year-old became the 103rd player selected for the 28-time champion Davis Cup nation after captain Pat Rafter handed him a late call up-for the crunch tie, starting in Warsaw on Friday.

Kyrgios replaces Marinko Matosevic in the four-man squad after impressing Rafter in training over the past fortnight.

While Kyrgios is no guarantee to play a match as Australia bids to return to the competition’s top tier for the first time since 2007, his selection represents a huge vote of confidence from Rafter.

At 18 he is not the youngest to be picked for Australia but he’s among the most inexperienced, having only just shifted his full focus from juniors to the senior tour.

The former world No.1 junior made a remarkable senior grand slam debut when he upset Czech veteran Radek Stepanek in the first round of the French Open and his Davis Cup selection continues a rapid rise.

“Honoured to be selected for the Australian DavisCup team, I’m told I’m the 103rd player to represent Australia. Pumped and prepared!,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.

Rafter said earlier this week he had been highly impressed by Kyrgios but indicated it may be too soon to include him.

“I just don’t know how his legs are going to hold up over five sets on clay in the brutal Davis Cup environment,” Rafter told AAP.

“But talent wise, he’s up there. It’s fantastic.”

With Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic leading Australia into battle against a Poland side missing injured leading light Jerzy Janowicz, Rafter would ideally be hoping for an early victory – allowing for Kyrgios to make his debut in a dead rubber on Sunday.

Kyrgios’ selection comes as a blow to Matosevic, who is still to prove himself under pressure at the top level.

The talented 28-year-old extended his grand slam duck to 11 matches with a first-round loss at the US Open, admitting he was being plagued by doubts.

“He’s so impressive in training, he works harder than anyone,” Rafter said of Matosevic.

“He prepares himself well. He’s just got his own mental demons he has to overcome.”

Hewitt, coming off his run to the last 16 at the US Open, will face world No.70 Lukasz Kubot in the opening singles match on Friday (starting 2400 AEST).

Tomic will then take on 113th-ranked Michal Przysiezny, who replaces world No.14 Janowicz.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Janowicz on Thursday succumbed to an ongoing back problem that hampered him during a short first-round exit at the US Open.

NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has now left the solar system and is wandering the galaxy, US scientists said Thursday.

The spacecraft was launched in 1977 on a mission to explore the outer planets of our solar system and to possibly journey into the unknown depths of outer space.

“This is the first time that humanity has been able to step outside of the cradle of the solar system to explore the larger galaxy,” Marc Swisdak, an astrophysicist at the University of Maryland, told AFP.

The precise position of Voyager has been fiercely debated in the past year, because scientists have not known exactly what it would look like when the spacecraft crossed the boundary of the solar system – and the tool on board that was meant to detect the change broke long ago.

However, US space agency scientists now agree that Voyager is officially outside the protective bubble known as the heliosphere that extends at least 13 billion kilometre beyond all the planets in our solar system, and has entered a cold, dark region known as interstellar space.

Their findings – which describe the conditions that show Voyager actually left the solar system in August 2012 – are published in the US journal Science.

“Voyager has boldly gone where no probe has gone before marking one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science,” John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

The twin spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, were launched in 1977 on a primary mission to explore Jupiter and Saturn.

Voyager 2 travelled on to Uranus and Neptune, before the duo’s mission was extended to explore the outer limits of the Sun’s influence.

The spacecraft is expected to keep cruising for now, though the radioisotope thermo-electric generators that power it are beginning to run down.